Ian Dawson - Radiation Background Simulations at LHC Experiments and Detector Damage Studies

Abstract:

Modern high energy collider experiments are designed to operate in harsh radiation environments. Monte Carlo simulation is crucial for understanding the complex particle and nuclear radiation backgrounds, and this is vital input in the choice and design (and therefore cost) of detector systems. In this seminar I will discuss how radiation environments are simulated to produce the particle fluence and ionising dose estimates that the LHC experiments need for predicting radiation damage in silicon sensors and electronics. I will also describe how over the past 10 years measurements from the ATLAS detector systems, as well as dedicated radiation monitors, have been used to validate the radiation background simulations, and explain why this work is important for future LHC upgrades as well as future hadron collider studies.